Page 26 of Untouchable

“Where do you think you are going, gorgeous?” He rumbles as he buries his nose into my hair and inhales deeply.

I fight off the gag that is building in my throat at the smell of this man. I am not sure if it is the cheap whiskey or the obscene body odor that is wafting off him, but the combination has me moments from puking. I shake my shoulders and attempt to stomp on his foot, but he anticipates my movements and holds me tighter, grinding his hard on against my ass.

“You sure are a pretty little thing. I think I will play with you for a little first. Sure would be a shame to waste a warm body,” he says, his rancid breath fanning across my face as one of his hands brushes against my thigh.

A feral growl comes from a few feet in front of us and I look up to see Alessandro aiming his gun at the man, while the other lays dead on the stairway. The man holding me glances up and makes eye contact with Alessandro. I notice when he looks straight up that he has a snake tattoo that starts just behind his ear and works its way around his throat.

“Let her go,” Alessandro booms in a deep authoritative voice that practically has me wanting to obey.

If the man is intimidated, he doesn’t show it as his large palm moves from my thigh and up to cup one of my breasts. He lets out a dark chuckle as his hands begin to roughly knead me, causing me to whimper as a tear drops down my cheek.

“Nah, I don’t think I will. I am way too interested to see what this sweet little thing can d-”

Before he can even finish his sentence, a shot is fired, and the man’s body goes still before falling backwards. He almost takes me with him, and I have to fling myself forward just so that I don’t. I stumble a few steps until I land on my knees. I look over my shoulder to the see the man with a perfect circle marring his forehead as a thick red stream begins to seep out of it.

My eyes make their way back to Alessandro who is looking at the man impassively before he looks down at me. He is the perfect picture of composure. Like he just put the dishes away, not shot someone in the head only inches away from my own.

We stay silent for a few heavy moments, just looking at each other like perfect strangers, or at least that is how I am looking at him.

“Who are you?” I ask softly, truly not recognizing the man before me.

Don’t get me wrong, I had assumed that he had been in altercations, maybe even killed a man before. But I have never witnessed something so callous. He just took someone’s life, killed someone right in front of me, the second someone today actually. Yet he is looking at me blankly like he is waiting for my coffee order.

Without saying a word, he scoops me up into his arms, walks us over to the Escalade and deposits me into the seat before buckling my seat belt and walking over to his side. I sit there staring at him with wide eyes. How could he possibly be so calm and unaffected? He just killed someone! Granted, someone that was probably about to kill me too, but still.

The car starts up and Alessandro turns around and starts back down the road. Obviously neither of us are pilots and who knows how many more of these guys are out there? We can’t stay here, but where do we go now?

Despite the fear inside of me from not knowing where to go or what to do, I still can’t get it out of my head. Alessandro is a killer, clearly a talented one at that. How is he so calm? I continue staring at him trying desperately to piece together the guy I used to know and the man before me, but they don’t fit. It is impossible that they are the same person.

“What?” He snaps harshly after a few minutes of my gawking.

“You killed him.”

“Great fucking observation, Princess. Anything new you would like to share with the class?”

I let his harsh words roll off of me as I narrow my eyes at him. “Today isn’t the first time that you have ever killed someone, is it?”

He lets out a hollow laugh, shaking his head as his eyes stay on the road. “Not even close.”

His admission makes my eyes widen as I continue to stare at him. “How many people have you killed?”

“Too many to count,” he says coldly.

I open my mouth to respond but he snaps his neck to the side so that he can look at me.

“This is me, Princess. The real me. The ruthless cold-blooded killer. If you think for one second that your gilded throne doesn’t sit on a pile of blood and bones, you are stupider than I thought. I know the Boss keeps you sheltered, but shit. Open your eyes a little.”

His rough tone brings tears to my eyes as my lower lip begins to wobble. I turn away from him as I stare out the window while we go down the road, a few hot tears slipping down my cheeks as I do my best to avoid his penetrating gaze.

So many more questions run through my mind, like where do we go, what do we do? I don’t bother voicing them though. Instead, I lean my head up against the window and close my eyes.

Chapter Thirteen

Alessandro

Finally, after several hours of driving, I find a little hole in the wall motel far enough from the highway to give me a small sense of ease. I look over to a sleeping Seraphina and decide to leave her while I grab a room.

The young kid running the lobby, if you could even call it that, is messing with his phone when he sees me walk in. He sets it down and looks up at me with a bored expression, clearly already over having to deal with a customer.

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